Maritime inventory routing with multiple products: A case study from the cement industry

This paper considers a maritime inventory routing problem faced by a major cement producer. A heterogeneous fleet of bulk ships transport multiple non-mixable cement products from producing factories to regional silo stations along the coast of Norway. Inventory constraints are present both at the factories and the silos, and there are upper and lower limits for all inventories. The ship fleet capacity is limited, and in peak periods the demand for cement products at the silos exceeds the fleet capacity. In addition, constraints regarding the capacity of the ships’ cargo holds, the depth of the ports and the fact that different cement products cannot be mixed must be taken into consideration. A construction heuristic embedded in a genetic algorithmic framework is developed. The approach adopted is used to solve real instances of the problem within reasonable solution time and with good quality solutions.     

An electrochemical study into the interaction between complement-derived peptides and DOPC mono- and bilayers

Electrochemical methods employing the hanging mercury drop electrode were used to study the interaction between variants of the complement-derived antimicrobial peptide CNY21 (CNYITELRRQH ARASHLGLAR) and dioleoyl phosphatidylcholine (DOPC) monolayers. Capacitance potential and impedance measurements showed that the CNY21 analogues investigated interact with DOPC monolayers coating the mercury drop. Increasing the peptide hydrophobicity by substituting the two histidine residues with leucine resulted in a deeper peptide penetration into the hydrophobic region of the DOPC monolayer, indicated by an increase in the dielectric constant of the lipid monolayer (Deltaepsilon = 2.0 after 15 min interaction). Increasing the peptide net charge from +3 to +5 by replacing the histidines by lysines, on the other hand, arrests the peptide in the lipid head group region. Reduction of electroactive ions (Tl+, Pb2+, Cd2+, and Eu3+) at the monolayer-coated electrode was employed to further characterize the types of defects induced by the peptides. All peptides studied permeabilize the monolayer to Tl+ to an appreciable extent, but this effect is more pronounced for the more hydrophobic peptide (CNY21L), which also allows penetration of larger ions and ions of higher valency. The results for the various ions indicate that charge repulsion rather than ion size is the determining factor for cation penetration through peptide-induced defects in the DOPC monolayer. The effects obtained for monolayers were compared to results obtained with bilayers from liposome leakage and circular dichroism studies for unilamellar DOPC vesicles, and in situ ellipsometry for supported DOPC bilayers. Trends in peptide-induced liposome leakage were similar to peptide effects on electrochemical impedance and permeability of electroactive ions for the monolayer system, demonstrating that formation of transmembrane pores alone does not constitute the mechanism of action for the peptides investigated. Instead, our results point to the importance of local packing defects in the lipid membrane in close proximity to the adsorbed peptide molecules.     

Determination of phosphate species in nutrient solutions and phosphorus in plant material as phosphovanadomolybdic acid by flow injection analysis

A flow-injection spectrophotometric method for the determination of orthophosphate is described. The signal from the yellow phosphovanadomolybdic acid complex is recorded at 400 nm. The detection limit is 0.1 mg P 1^?1 (as orthophosphate), the calibration graph is linear up to 30 mg P 1^?1 and up to 240 samples can be analysed per hour. The method is used in the determination of phosphorus in digested plant material, and is also applicable for separating free orthophosphate from acid-labile aluminium phosphate colloids in nutrient solutions.     

Automorphism groups of free geometries revisited

The number of types of free constructions introduced into geometry has increased steadily since the birth (2) of the free projective planes in 1943. The present paper is a follow up of (3) which introduces free geometries in terms ofsimple extensions. This point of view embeds a family of such constructions, here called the freelocally affine planes, into the discipline ofpartial order with noticeable technical simplifications as a consequence.Dedicated to Professor Helmut Mäurer on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday     

Studies of alkylmetal alkoxides of aluminium,gallium and indium : IV. The molecular structure of dimethylaluminium t-butoxide dimer by gas phase electron diffraction

The electron diffraction data for gaseous dimethylaluminium t-butoxide dimer are consistent with a molecular model of effective D_2h symmetry. The Al₂O₂ ring is planar and the three valencies of the O atoms are lying in a plane. The t-butyl groups undergo nonhindered or slightly hindered internal rotation. The most important bond distances and valence angles are: AlO = 1.864(6), AlC = 1.962(15), OC = 1.419(12), CC = 1.533(5) Å, ∠AlOAl = 98.1(0.7), ∠CAlC = 121.7(1.7) and ∠OCC = 110.4(0.5)°.